Druid/Paladin duo

[kaev]

If you're not thrilled by the notion of using druid animal charms to play as a weaker imitation of a chanter/cleric duo, push the paladin's AC as high as you can with gear. The mitigation benefit of AC is huge for maximizing the benefit from the druid's DS buff (you're not working with complete heal so the size of the paladin's HP pool is not as important as her AC.)

I like paladin/druid duo, it's a super survivable combo and with a paladin partner a druid actually gets to play in indoor dungeons instead of listening to crickets chirp when you /ooc druid LFG. When doing dungeons be sure to keep an evac or other port mem'd to escape a train on a lull-line crit resist or a failure to prevent a gate. In outdoor dungeons like Karnor's a druid who is not afraid to pull is great.

[tadkins]

That's kind of what I was worried about. I was hoping I wouldn't have to rely on charms to get anything done, but instead play the classic way of buffing the tank, dropping a nice DS on the tank, and letting the mobs break themselves on the tank. I was planning to use charming when applicable to provide support DPS, but not to steal the show from my sister. It's precisely why I didn't pick enchanter as the duo.

[Keebz]

You can play tank and spank with this duo; your DPS will just be trash as you get higher level. There's always the option pick up a third though (Enchanter, Rogue, Mage, Monk even) to help speed things along.

[tadkins]

Originally Posted by Keebz [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You can play tank and spank with this duo; your DPS will just be trash as you get higher level. There's always the option pick up a third though (Enchanter, Rogue, Mage, Monk even) to help speed things along.

I figured the DS would provide a decent amount of DPS in a sense. Having a nice hard tank with two sets of protective buffs would give the DS plenty of time to shine. But maybe it was one of those "seems good on paper" type deals.

I'm just hesitant to rely on charm too much because I'm notoriously bad at it. It's why I quit enchanter early on and it was part of the reason I took so long to really consider druid as a class. Wizard was appealing at the time precisely because I wouldn't have to worry about charming. And history is repeating itself because I'm seriously stumbling around trying to learn how to charm in EK as we speak. Every instinct in my gut right now is screaming to stop trying if I want to get at least a little exp by the end of the night hehe.

[Keebz]

I mean bad DPS isn't the end of the world. The duo is pretty survivable and versatile if you know what you're doing.

Just stick with something you enjoy and play it. That's the secret to this game tbh.

[tadkins]

Originally Posted by Keebz [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I mean bad DPS isn't the end of the world. The duo is pretty survivable and versatile if you know what you're doing.

Just stick with something you enjoy and play it. That's the secret to this game tbh.

I appreciate that. I do admit that I like the wizard class in of itself. It appeals to me on a thematic level, exploring the cosmos and blowing people up instead of playing mind games with them. I just got to level 53 and realized I wouldn't get to do much besides port people and quad wyverns, and a wizard/paladin combo doesn't sound at all effective. I just had to accept that.

I guess the journey now is finding the second best thing that I enjoy. Druid itself is a fun class so far though. My only real issues there so far are the reliance on charming (something I'm honestly dreading) and that I kind of miss being evil. xD

[Danth]

Originally Posted by tadkins [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

My only real issues there so far are the reliance on charming (something I'm honestly dreading) and that I kind of miss being evil. xD

You don't rely on charming for leveling unless you're determined to level as quickly as possible. Taking it slower, let the damage shield do the work, heal up between battles, that's valid too. Tradeoff is you'll take longer to get to the top. You might need to rely on charming for some of the more advanced level 60 activities, but by then you'll either feel like giving it a try or have other things you can do instead if you don't feel like it.

Paladin is a nice (for a melee) duo partner for a druid in no small part because the el-cheapo Deepwater Helm goes a long way towards helping out with the mana situation, provided the player is willing to pause to heal when necessary. Druid's long-duration root allows for doing so in combat (against non-summoners) even more reliably than the paladin's own root permits.

Danth

[tadkins]

Originally Posted by Danth [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You don't rely on charming for leveling unless you're determined to level as quickly as possible. Taking it slower, let the damage shield do the work, heal up between battles, that's valid too. Tradeoff is you'll take longer to get to the top. You might need to rely on charming for some of the more advanced level 60 activities, but by then you'll either feel like giving it a try or have other things you can do instead if you don't feel like it.

Paladin is a nice (for a melee) duo partner for a druid in no small part because the el-cheapo Deepwater Helm goes a long way towards helping out with the mana situation, provided the player is willing to pause to heal when necessary. Druid's long-duration root allows for doing so in combat (against non-summoners) even more reliably than the paladin's own root permits.

Danth

I've given it the good ol' college try today in EK earlier. Had some mixed success with learning charming, and a lot of fumbles. I kinda wish I had a coach or something to tell me what I'm doing wrong, because I don't feel like I have the technique down. But that said I'm just going to chalk it up to the fact that I'm only level 22 right now, and that the charm spells I get later will actually be far more reliable at later levels. Maybe I will be more receptive to it when my charms aren't breaking a second after I cast the spell on an animal. xD

[Taiku]

Originally Posted by tadkins [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I've given it the good ol' college try today in EK earlier. Had some mixed success with learning charming, and a lot of fumbles. I kinda wish I had a coach or something to tell me what I'm doing wrong, because I don't feel like I have the technique down. But that said I'm just going to chalk it up to the fact that I'm only level 22 right now, and that the charm spells I get later will actually be far more reliable at later levels. Maybe I will be more receptive to it when my charms aren't breaking a second after I cast the spell on an animal. xD

Once you get that super long snare duration spell (Ensnare?) charming on druid is extremely safe, I would recommend getting some sort of timer thing to watch the duration of it, like n-parse or GINA, I use n-parse. Break your charm (with invis/hide) before snare is up and re-snare/charm. As long as everything is always snared it should be very comfy, just try to avoid charming things that run at SoW speed like griffs, though griffs are probably fine with snare management, too.

Edit: Also as far as I'm aware higher level charm spells DO NOT improve your charm break rates, they just let you charm higher levels, you typically want to use the lowest level charm you can get away with, your level difference to the mob you are charming, and CHA for enchanters(not sure for druids!), and target's magic resist are what change the chance of it breaking early. I would recommend always trying to charm the lowest level mob you can use for what you're doing, Especially since you have a paladin tank to take the hits, a lvl 15 mob will be better than trying to charm a level 20 mob that breaks constantly.

[Ennewi]

Originally Posted by Keebz [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I mean bad DPS isn't the end of the world. The duo is pretty survivable and versatile if you know what you're doing.

Just stick with something you enjoy and play it. That's the secret to this game tbh.

Agreed. It may be less than ideal in all other ways, but if it does it for you personally, keep doing it. The other duo combinations are an everyday sight. Shaman/monk. Cleric/enchanter. Powerful, but commonplace. Druid/paladin is unusual, which ought to make the journey from 1 to 60 go off the beaten ZEM path.

True, the pair's damage output leaves something to be desired, but the druid does have access to charm, which benefits from the many paladin stuns. And if the paladin really wants to tank, thorns would provide enough damage. A decent amount of synergy is there. At least their buffs stack, unlike cleric/paladin, so the majority of what's in each spellbook will find its way in both buff windows.

With evac and lay hands, plus eventual soulfire charges and 90% rez, you won't be hurting for solutions to sudden, unforeseen problems. Making use of camo, ivu, harmony, and lull, dungeons like Kaesora and City of Mist will be less problematic, with the different mob types being a nonissue when moving from camp to camp. The duo could even fall back on snare and undead fear for casual xp sessions versus spectres.